Envelop-fastener.



No. 860,341. PATENTED JULY 16, 1907.

E. B. STIMPSON. I ENVELOP FASTENER.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

EDWIN BALL STIMPSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO UNITED STATES ENVELOPE 00., OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ENvELoP- AsTENE'R.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 190".

Application filed July 7., 1905. Serial No. 268,693.

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that I. Eown; BALL STIMPSON, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, in the city and State of New York. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelop-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class of fastener devices made ordinarily from sheet metal and employed for securing the closing flaps of envelops, bags and other receptacles commonly used for mailing purposes.

The object of the invention is to provide a fastener which will be struck from sheetmetal without waste and having clips adapted for the convenient and ready closing of the package to which the fastener is applied.

To this end the fastener comprises a base plate having two pairs of attaching spurs or prongs at opposite ends of said plate projecting substantially at right angles thereto and a pair of flap clips extending in opposite directions from adjacent points near the center of said plate, each of said clips being severed from said plate and from said attaching prongs by mere slits, and the ends of saidclips projecting beyond the opposite ends of said plate.

In the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference characters indicate corresponding parts in the different figures, Figure 1 represents'a rear elevation of an envelop provided with one of these fasteners secured by its spurs or prongs to the body of the envelop and having its flap-engaging clips lying flat in position in which they are left when the envelop with the applied fastener is placed on'the market. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the an incomplete fastener in diamond form before the attaching prongs are bent down. Fig. 3 is a plan view of an incomplete fastener in rectangular form before the attaching prongs are bent down. Fig. 4 is a plan view of an incomplete fastener in circular form before the attaching prongs are bentdown. plete diamond-shaped fastener in the form in which it is placed on the market. Fig. 6 represents a perspective view of a complete fastener in diamond form showing one of the flap clips longer than the other and folded over on the shorter one.

This fastener comprises a base plate of any suitable form as a diamond-shaped plate 3 as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6, or rectangular plate 3 as shown in 3 or a circular plate as 3 as shown in Fig. 4. This plate is Fig. 5 a perspective view of a. comprovided with two pairs of attaching prongs or spurs 2 located at opposite ends of the diamond-shaped plate as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 or at diametrically opposite points or ends in the circular lpatc as shown in Fig.

4 or at diagonally opposite corner ends of the rectangular plate as shown in Fig. 3. These prongs are bent at' right angles to the base plate at the points indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

' Two flap clips 1 are united with the body of the base plate 3, 3 or 3 at adjacent points near the center of said plate and extend in opposite directions from said points, being severed along their opposite sides from said plate and from said prongs by longitudinal slits, the outer ends of said clips extending beyond the angle of said prongs and lying flat with the base-plate in the marketable form of the device.

Fig. 1 shows the application of a diamond-shaped fastener E constructed according to this invention and applied to an envelop B having a reinforced aperture a in its closing flap. As thus applied the outer ends of the flap clips 1 of the fastener project beyond the ends of the attached base plate 3 in such manner that the fingers may readily take under them and bend the clips up into upright operative position adjacentto or in contact with each other to engage the eyelet a in the envelop flap. This projection of the clips is an important feature as they must lie down flat as shown to permit the fastener in its marketable form to be packed closely in boxes for sale, and to permit the envelops also to lie closely together in packages after the fasteners have been applied thereto. It is also important that-each clip be. separated from the base plate and from the attaching prongs by simple slits whereby waste of material is avoided. By these several features economy of construction, compactness for transportation and facility of application are secured.

In Fig. 3 additional attaching prongs 4 are disposed at diagonally opposite points of the rectangular base at right angles to the prongs 2.

The construction shown in Fig. 6 is similar to that seen in Fig. 5 except that one of the clipsis made longer than the other, and in the marketable form this longer clip is bent over on the other so as to project a little beyond the latter at its free end. This permits of both clips being bent up at one operation if desired.

, I claim as my invention:

1. An envelop fastener comprising a base plate having attaching spurs disposed at opposite ends thereof and bent at right angles thereto, and two flap-engaging clips separated from said spurs by mere severing slits and originally closing the spaces between them, said clips extending in opposite directions from'points near the center of said plate to points beyond the bends of said spurs.

2. An envelop fastener comprising a base plate having attaching spurs disposed in pairs at opposite ends thereof and bent at right angles thereto, two flap-engaging clips 10 separated from said spurs by mere severing slits and 'origii-ng witnesses. Y

nally closingthe spaces between them, said clips extending in opposite directions from'points near the center oi. said plate to points beyond the bends of said spurs.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 6th day of July 1905, in the presence of two subscrib- EDWIN BALL sTIMPsON'. Witnesses HENRY CQNNETT;

WILLIAM J. FIRTH. 

